


Flotsam

by Sephone_North



Series: Book 1: Judged [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And maybe pissed, Azula redemption arc? before she needs redemption? I dunno, Gen, No Beta: We die like mne, Not Bad, Ozai and Ursa are dead, The Spirits are moving, This is all Muffin's fault, Zuko is here but is close to death so don't expect much from him, just slight, shipwrecked, slight gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:48:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25464964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephone_North/pseuds/Sephone_North
Summary: Hakoda wondered if the blue light on the ocean was a spirit flame. It was not.Now he has custody of a fierce little firebending girl, while his healer does everything he can to save the boy they found. He wonders if he'll regret it, what with the apparent Spirit interference and all.
Relationships: Azula & Hakoda (Avatar)
Series: Book 1: Judged [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844545
Comments: 137
Kudos: 2101
Collections: AtLA <10k fics to read, One shots





	Flotsam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Salvage](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116591) by [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance). 



> First off, blame Muffin. She sent me on the long wonderful road of Fire Nation siblings getting adopted by Hakoda. I am also using her crew. So I hope she enjoys this. Hopefully. 
> 
> I'm unsure on proper tagging (You'd think after 10 years of writing, I'd be better). There is a moment when Zuko's wounds are described. If you get icked out, just skip it. I didn't go into great detail, but it's still gross. 
> 
> One of the things that I've noticed in the Zuko get adopted fics, is that there is no adoption really for Azula. So, I made it so that they both get a somewhat happy home to grow up in. I mean, of course traumatic experiences are needed first, but happiness will show up sooner or later. 
> 
> Maybe.

The lightning is Agni’s wrath. His chosen child has been struck with fire, with the intent of making him afraid. Perhaps Agni could not touch the perpetrator in the Caldera, with the Dragon resting beneath, but the open ocean is fair game. He strikes the ship down.

  
The wave is Tui’s decision. She and La decided that they wanted to see what Agni’s chosen is truly like. She meant to separate him from the Fire Nation, to see what this boy could be. She did not mean to harm him.

The two weeks at sea is La’s test. He wanted to see if the boy would survive. The Fire Nation had taken so much from his chosen land. Tui claimed the Northern lands, while La claimed the Southern lands as their preferred places of benders, by Raava’s decree of separation. He wanted to see how the boy faced adversity.

None of them expected him to save the girl.

\---

Hakoda stepped up to the prow of the ship as Aake pointed out towards the water. He blinked and squinted. It looked like a ghost light, one of the rare blue spirit flames drifting on the ocean in the distance. But there was something about it that caught his attention. It faded out for a moment, and Hakoda wondered if that was the end of it, before it lit again slightly brighter.

He shook his head and looked up to Bato on the helm. His second raised an eyebrow, and he nodded. Bato turned the wheel slightly, sending the boat towards the blue light burning on the sea.

This close to the Fire Nation blockade, they hadn’t lit the front lantern on the prow. With a crescent moon hanging in the sky, they drifted silently and nearly invisible through the water. As they got closer, the light went out again. Voices drifted towards them, reaching further over the water than would ever reach over land.

“Dum-dum, wake up.” The female voice sounded young. “Zu-zu, I order you to wake up.” The order was meant to be strong, but just came off as weak and pleading.

Hakoda jerked, his eyes wide. “Aake, rope now. Runalok, get Kutsaa up here now.” He barked out, the men racing to fulfill the orders.

Blue fire lit up on the ocean, revealing a makeshift raft floating in the waves. A small girl sat on a metal plate, flames weakly licking up her hands. _Ashmaker_ , Hakoda thought, a brief flash of panic, before remembering that the child was literally dying on the water.

“Hello,” he called. “Just hold on a moment, we’ll get you aboard.”

The girl’s face, illuminated by her own fire, glared up at him. But she looked over, to a few barrels floating behind her. Hakoda followed her gaze and nearly choked, realizing there was a _second_ child.

“If you attempt to harm us,” She called,” I will burn your ship to the ground.”

A spark of anger raced through him. This child was on the edge of death and she dared to threaten him. He swallowed, trying to remind himself that she was Fire Nation, and it was obvious that they _weren’t_. No doubt, this threat made sense to her. It wasn’t the way he would’ve handled something, but who knows what they taught Fire Nation children.

Aake reappeared with rope just as Runalok and Kutsaa arrived on deck. Bato had sent someone to wake up Tuluk to man the helm and drop an anchor, so he ran over to assist with the small girl on fire.

“There’s another kid over there,” Hakoda pointed. “I’m guessing he’s not responsive at the moment.”

“He fell asleep,” The girl snarled, reminding him that sound carried on the sea. “He refuses to wake up. I ordered him to wake up.”

“Keep calm,” Kutsaa called. “I’m a medic. I’ll take care of him the moment we get him on board.” He looked over at Hakoda. “I don’t think throwing them a rope will work.”

The Chief nodded and began pulling off his boots. Runalok began removing his as well, stopping Bato in his motion. “You sure you want to go?” Bato asked.

“I’m going to try and reason with the girl.” Hakoda murmured, doing his best to keep his voice down. “Runalok will get the other.” The man nodded.

“Miss,” Hakoda called. He received the rope from Aake and tied it around his waist. “I’m going to swim out to you. Then I'm going to swim you back to the ship. No one will harm you on this ship. One of my men is going to your friend.”

“Dum-dum isn’t my friend,” She snapped. “He’s my brother.”

“To your brother,” Hakoda amended, and then sighed. “Please, don’t set me on fire.”

“Don’t make me,” She replied, arms crossed. He glanced over at Bato, who shrugged, and then he climbed over the railing and into the water.

The water was much warmer than he was used to. It made it easier to make the few strokes over to what looked like a shard of the hull from a Fire Nation ship. He grabbed the edge and looked up at the girl.

He would guess that she’d been at sea for a while. Her pale Fire Nation skin was red, burnt by an unforgiving sun. Salt crusted over her clothing and hair. Her face was sunken in, her cheekbones sharp against her face. “My name is Hakoda,” He said quietly, holding out a hand to her.

She sniffed at him, haughty and proud. She grabbed the bag that was leaning against her and clutched it to herself with a hand not on fire. Her other hand was casting light on the barrels as Runalok was carefully cutting the rope tying the boy to the barrels. Only when the boy was safely in his man’s arms and halfway back to the ship, did the girl put her fire out. She kept an eye on their travel, but she accepted his arm and let him help her into the water. He pulled the rope, letting Bato help pull them back to the ship.

Kutsaa was muttering under his breaths, quiet curses, as Hakoda handed the girl up to Bato. Her eyes were watching the healer work, hands tightening on the bag pressed against her chest. As Bato set her on the deck, her legs gave out beneath her, making her hiss sharply as she slid to the floor. Kutsaa glanced up, but she waved him off.

“I was sitting on the raft the entire time,” She said. “I will heal. Fix him.”

Runalok looked up at Hakoda with wide eyes, hand over his mouth as if nauseous. Hakoda leaned over to see what Kutsaa was working with and immediately wished he hadn’t.

The boy was young, Sokka’s age, if Hakoda had to guess. Which made it harder to look at the side of his face. The area around his left eye was swollen, a mix of white pus and black rot. His eyebrow was bulbous and huge. It was one of the worst things that he’d ever seen.

“Runalok, help me get him below deck.” Kutsaa ordered.

The girl jerked, moving as if to follow as Runalok scooped up the boy and began carrying him behind Kutsaa. “Where are they taking him?” She snarled, teeth baring. If she wasn’t so tired, she probably would’ve lit her fire again. She was fading hard, but worry was keeping her awake.

“Below deck to the infirmary,” He said, kneeling to be on eye level with her. “I’ll be honest with you, he doesn’t look good.”

She stared at him, wide eyed. “He’s not allowed to die,” she said softly. She couldn’t be older than Katara, he realized. Aake shoved a water skin towards him, and he held it out to her.

“Kutsaa is going to do everything he can to make sure he doesn’t.” He murmured. “Drink a little.”

She looked at the water skin like she didn’t recognize it, her hands gripping and loosening on her bag. “I had water,” She replied, dazed as the adrenaline began to leave her. “Zu-zu found the emergency kit in the wreckage. It had a water stil. He figured out how to use it from some stupid theater scroll he read. He found the barrels too. They had food.” A tear slid down her cheek, which made Hakoda let out a breath. She wasn’t lying about having water. “He made sure I ate.” She sniffed. “He’s not allowed to die,” she repeated.

Hakoda nodded and reached out to pick her up. She flinched away, staring up at him as if he was a monster. He blinked. “I’m going to take you below deck as well. Kutsaa is busy, but we need to help you get cleaned up, get some salve on your skin, and some food in your stomach.”

“But, Zu-” She started.

“I know,” he interrupted. “But you can’t help Kutsaa now. You can help your brother by getting yourself cleaned up and on the road to recovery. Let us help.”

She sighed, curling around her bag a little before nodding. Hakoda took this as agreement and carefully scooped her up and took her below deck.

—-

They sailed for the closest safe harbor at Kutsaa’s request. It’s more south than they wanted, a small port on the edge of a giant swamp. Bato had pointed out multiple options, but each one was occupied or a Fire Nation colony. The swamp port, Caoze, was the only option for a Water Tribe ship.

Kutsaa spent the four days of sailing south slaving over the Fire Nation boy. It took every trick to keep the boy breathing, though the healer would be the first to admit that the boy had a near supernatural fight in him. The wounds and infections would’ve killed any other person, but still, this boy kept fighting. Once, he woke up, left eye slitting open and a single word slipping from his lips. It was the first clue to the identity of the firebender girl.

“La-la,” Hakoda said, staring down at the girl currently curled up against the wall of his cabin, drowning in a Water Tribe shirt. It had been the smallest found, an old one of Toklo’s that he somehow had packed. She sneered, her bag against her side. He narrowed his eyes at it. It seemed fuller than it had been.

“That’s not my name.” While she was still thin, she looked much better than when they had fished her out of the water. Her hair had been matted beyond saving,so they had had to cut it off, much to her loud complaints. Her skin was slowly clearing up, the salve helping her sunburn immensely. Hakoda had noted that she had been in a much better position than her brother, which was probably a testament to the boy’s protective nature than anything else.

“You won’t tell us your or your brother’s names.” He said, settling down to sit a decent distance from her. “What are we supposed to call you? Boy and Girl?”

“I don’t care what you call me, Water Tribe,” She growled. She had called them savage once, until Bato had casually mentioned that it was not a proper way to treat such charitable hosts. It had made her flinch away from him, but she had switched to just a harsh ‘Water Tribe instead. It was impressive how’d she made the two words sound like ‘savage’, though. “Once my brother is better, we’re leaving.”

Hakoda wasn’t sure about that. Part of him balked at the thought of two children, maybe eleven and nine, wandering around the world on their own. Little La-la had been able to explain that their parents had died with the ship. She hadn’t mentioned any other family, so he wasn’t sure if they’d just let them go. He didn’t want to keep them on a war ship, especially an enemy one, but he wanted to make sure they were both taken care of.

“Then La-la it is,” He said with a smile.

“Ugh!” she rolled her eyes with all the attitude a little girl could muster. “If you must, then call me La.”

He blinked. “I don’t know if that’s right,” He said softly. “You see, La is the name of the Ocean spirit. It’s improper to call a child by the same name as a Great Spirit.”

She looked at him, eyes wide and somewhat blank. She flinched out of whatever she had seen, and curled up tighter. “Just call me girl then,” she said quietly.

“I don’t think that’s right either,” Hakoda sighed. “Why don’t you just give me your name?”

“Because you don’t give the enemy any more information than necessary,” She answered. “You’re Water Tribe. We are at war.”

“We aren’t going to hurt you,” he said softly. “We don’t hurt children.”

“I don’t care,” She glared, and he saw little flames licking over her fingers, an indicator that he was making her uncomfortable. She hadn’t threatened anyone since they got her on the ship, but he was pretty sure that was only because she was afraid that by doing so would stop the care of her brother. It wouldn’t, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Then give us something.”

She shifted and shrugged, “Ilah. How’s that?”

“Ilah. It sounds familiar. Where’s it from?” He asked, curious.

She sighed, as if he was stupid. “It’s the name of the last Fire Lady, may she rest in Agni’s light. She was Fire Lord Azulon’s wife.”

Something in him viscerally rejected the thought of anything to do with Azulon. The Fire Lord’s name was a sharp stab to the heart, because it was his orders that led to their tribe’s slow death. He ordered the waterbenders to be taken. He ordered the death sentence over Hakoda’s daughter. Azulon is the reason that Hakoda stepped into his tent to see his wife’s dead body, face burnt beyond recognition.

The girl’s face went pale. Some of his feelings must have shown on his face. Hakoda took a deep breath and leaned back. Azulon’s crimes were not this girl’s fault, and the name Ilah wasn’t a bad choice, since it was probably close to her actual name if ‘La-la’ was an indicator.

“That’s not a bad name,” He said softly. “I apologize if I scared you. Azulon is my enemy.”

She opened her mouth, probably to snap at him about his disrespectful refusal to use the Fire Lord’s title. She paused though and settled back. “You should just call him Fire Lord, rather than use his actual name,” She said quietly. “Father always said that giving your enemies names was a bad habit. It could possibly breed pity.”

Hakoda blinked. What the hell was the Fire Nation teaching their children? They were raising monsters from the cradle, it seemed. His resolve not to let this little girl return to the enemy strengthened, even though his common sense yelled at him for it. “I- uh- see,” He said, nonplussed. “Is that why you call us Water Tribe?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Since you refuse to answer to savage.”

“Okay then,” He sighed, not even planning on getting into that argument. “Ilah, we will be docking at an Earth Nation port. It’s safe ground for Water Tribe ships, unlike any Fire Nation port, of course. However, I don’t know how they’ll react to a firebender. You’ll need to be careful. Stay close to us, and no fire.”

She growled and muttered something under her breath, a different language altogether. She shifted her bag and nodded. “Fine, but only because of Zu-zu.”

“What should we call Zu-zu, by the way,” Hakoda asked, an eyebrow raising.

“Kuzon.” She answered immediately. “It’s a common enough Fire Nation name.”

“Kuzon, it is.” He said, filing that information away for later. “Now, we’ll be reaching port tomorrow morning. Once Kuzon gets a little better, we can discuss where you want to go, okay?”

“That sounds acceptable.” She hunched her shoulders, a defensive position that hurt Hakoda’s heart. She was so small and so fierce, so much like Katara. He sighed.

This was getting harder every day.

\---

They didn’t expect a welcoming party as they pulled into the dock. They certainly didn’t expect the attire of the welcoming party.

“Why aren’t they wearing pants?” Ilah asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

“No idea,” Hakoda answered, wondering if he should cover the little girl’s eyes. “But we shouldn’t bring it up. You should always be respectful of others' customs when you visit their village.”

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, but rolled them and huffed. She hadn’t left his side as they docked, her ever present bag at her side with a new strap holding it over her shoulder. He wasn’t sure why it was important, but she had kept it so close, that he didn’t even question it at this point.

“Howdy,” The man in front, a squat thick fellow with mushroom-like gray hair, waved. “We’re here ta help ya.”

“What?” Hakoda eloquently asked. Ilah snorted beside him.

“My name’s Huu. I got a vision from the Spirit World that I was supposed ta help the injured boy on the incoming ship with the blue sails. I’m guessing that’s yall?” The man asked, smiling.

“A vision?” Ilah asked, her voice sharp. “And what did this vision tell you to do? Kill the boy?” Her hands were tight at her side, no doubt a second from sparking. Hakoda placed a calming hand on her shoulder, and he could feel her muscles tense even more. Almost as if she was expecting a hit, he thought, making his heart hurt.

“Ain’t nothing like that,” Huu said. “Spirits asked us ta take him inta the Swamp, near the Banyan-grove tree. They wanna talk ta him, and that’s the only place they can here. Course, I guess yall could go north, but that’s a far trip and ain't no reason ta take it if you don’t hafta.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that the spirits have taken an interest in my brother?” Ilah was livid. “He needs a healer, not some spiritual nonsense!”

“Now, miss, no reason ta be angry,” Huu held up his hands. “I’m just the messenger. They wanna see him, and I’m supposed ta help.”

“And I don’t believe you!” She snarled. “Let the spirits prove your words!”

The hair on Hakoda’s neck rose, which turned to be a blessing because he blinked as the lightning bolt slammed into the bay water. The rolling wave of thunder washed over them all, causing them to stumble in the force, driving Ilah back into his legs. He thought she screamed, but it couldn’t hear a thing over the ringing in his ears.

She was beyond trembling, great heaving shakes as she pressed closer against his legs, as if trying to get away from the lightning. Losing his good sense with the sight of a terrified little girl, Hakoda scooped her up and, with a gentle hand on her head, pressed her face against his shoulder. He held her close and looked around as the other men blinked away the sunspots on their eyes.

The door to the deck below slammed open, Kutsaa glaring at the world around him. He started to say something, but Hakoda waved at his ears. He couldn’t hear a thing.

Huu waved, a piece of some sort of plant in his hands. He held it up, and then held it to the ear of one of his people. The plant glowed for a moment, and the man winced slightly, before Huu did it to the other ear. He pointed at Hakoda and held up the plant.  
Hakoda traded a look with Bato, and his second understood immediately. He would usually be the first to try this odd thing, but not with a terrified nine-year old in his hands. Bato stepped off the ship and leaned down to help Huu reach. The man did the glowy thing and Bato blinked, surprised, before standing up and looking over.

“I can hear,” He mouthed, though Hakoda guessed he was actually speaking. The Chief nodded and stepped down to be next. As the plant flowed next to his ear, there was a pop and suddenly he could hear too. Which made him realize that little Ilah was close to hyperventilating.

Huu quickly repeated the process for her, and then moved on to other tribe members of both sides, as Hakoda tried to calm the little girl down.

“Shh, shh,” He murmured, rocking slightly like he did for Katara in the months after Kya’s death. “We’ll be okay, sunshine.” The nickname came to him immediately, which he tried not to look at Bato as he said it. Katara was his moonlight, always had been. But this little girl was a bright little sun, and he was way too attached already. Damn it.

“Can you heal any wound with that spirit plant?” Kutsaa demanded from the deck, pointing at Huu’s hand.

“Ain’t no spirit vine,” Huu said, shrugging. “It ain’t the plant that’s doing the healin’. It’s waterbendin’. I just use the water in the plant.”

“You’re waterbenders?” Hakoda turned, eyes widening at him. “There are waterbenders here?”

“Yep, course we are,” One of the other swamp people said. “Where else you ‘spect waterbenders to be?”

He didn’t get the chance to answer, because Kutsaa was not deterred. “Can you heal any wound? Like an infection?”

Huu shrugged. “Suppose I can try. Is the boy bad off?”

“He’s dying,” the healer snarled. “Grab whatever plant you need and get up here. I’ll have more water waiting as well.”

Ilah let out a shuddering sound and leaned against his hand to stare in horror. Huu and Kutsaa disappeared below deck. “He can’t,” she whimpered.

“He won’t.” Hakoda stated, tightening his grip just slightly. “The spirits are moving, and they sent a healer here to meet us. They want to speak to him in this world, not theirs, Ilah. Which means they’ll do their part to keep him alive.”

“Father used to say that the spirits were a story meant to scare the common people into behaving.” Her voice was soft. “Mother said that we should be respectful, even if we don’t believe. She said that just because we don’t believe doesn't mean they aren’t real.”

“Do you believe?” He asked, unable not to.

“I didn’t,” She looked at him, blinking as if realizing that she was being held. He could see the argument in her head, as pride warred with comfort. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “But then the lightning hit our ship.”

Oh no. Lightning was the cause of their ship going down? No wonder the strike terrified her so much. Hakoda glanced up at the clear bright blue sky. Especially since the only conclusion could be spirit involvement.

“I don’t know why Agni was angry with us.” She continued, pulling his attention. “Lightning is his hand on earth, how he reaches from the sky. It’s said that to be stuck to be struck by his wrath.”

“I don’t think he’s angry,” Hakoda murmured, pulling her close. She stiffened for a moment, before almost collapsing against him. She’d been through so much, it was a wonder how it’d taken her this long to take some comfort from someone. “You asked them to prove that they were listening, and he answered the only way he could. You said that lightning is his hands on earth, so he used them. If he was angry, he would’ve struck us.”

“But why did he sink our ship?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe when the spirits talk to your brother, we can find out,” He said softly.

“What if they take him away?”

“I don’t think they will,” He answered. “They want him here, remember? They sent Huu. He’ll be okay.”

He prayed to every spirit that would listen that he wasn’t lying to her.

—-

Four hours later, Kutsaa and Huh emerged, both looking exhausted. Hakoda was settled on the deck, checking over the shopping list, while Ilah sat beside him. She was cross legged and breathing deep rhythmic breaths in the sunlight. Her eyes opened as the men arrived.

“He’ll live,” Kutsaa said, dropping onto the deck next to them, and she let out a huge breath. Huu settled down as well, smiling at the girl.

“But?” Hakoda asked, concerned. Kutsaa’s tone didn’t bode well for the boy, in his experience.

“But, it’s not going to be an easy road to full recovery,” Kutsaa said with a tired sigh. “Huu’s help was immense, and definitely improved his chances. But the infection was deep set. We had to remove the eye completely.”

“You took his eye?” Ilah asked, disgusted.

“Had ta,” Huu added. “It was rotting in his head.” That comment silenced her. Hakoda winced.

Kutsaa nodded. “We had to strip away the infection. It was bad. The majority of the muscle around his eye was eaten away, so we had to remove it. Luckily, that was the worst of it.”

“Luckily?” Ilah’s voice was soft.

“We only had ta take muscle he ain’t gonna be usin’” Huu said. “I was able ta heal up the remaining muscle and skin. It’ll be a nasty scar, big, and he’ll have ta relearn how ta see distance, but he’ll live.”

“Thank you,” Hakoda said softly. “For your help.”

“Ain’t no problem,” Huu smiled tiredly. “The spirits call and we listen.”

“Ilah, right?” Kutsaa asked. The little girl straightened, her full attention on him. “When he wakes up,” There was a silent ‘if’ there that Hakoda wasn’t sure if she heard. From the narrowing of her eyes, she did. “You’ll be able to see him. I’m going to warn you now, he’s going to look scary. It’s basically a big hole on that side of his face.”

She opened her mouth to snarl, but Hakoda tapped on her knee, raising an eyebrow. She glanced over and rolled her eyes, but dipped her head to Kutsaa. “Yes, sir. Thank you for your work,” She said, though it wasn’t as respectful as it should be.

Kutsaa had watched the interaction and was looking at Hakoda with a knowing look that the Chief ignored. “When do you expect him to wake up?” He asked.

“Hopefully in the morning,” Kutsaa took a deep breath. “We’ve barely been getting food and water in him. He needs to wake up so he can eat, or else he’s going to starve.”

Ilah sat still, her eyes trailing over the bay in the direction of where the lightning had struck. She opened her mouth, then hesitated. Her fingers gripped the bag at her side, as if it were carrying a source of strength for her. Finally she spoke.

“Do you think the spirits will help if we asked?” Her voice was quiet and almost scared. Hakoda fought the urge to reach out and pull her close.

“I think they wouldn’t mind the ask,” Huu said, encouragingly. “They wanna speak ta him anyways. Besides, he’s fought this long. Pretty sure, he’ll keep fightin’”

Ilah nodded absently, eyes blank. Hakoda pulled the budget book to him and smiled. “Well, since we know he’s on the mend, come on Ilah.” She snapped to stare at him, suspicion in her gaze. “You’re coming to help me with the shopping.”

“Ugh,” She replied with all the attitude of an opinionated child. Which in his opinion, was much better than a blank stare out into the ocean. They both climbed to their feet, nodded to the tired healers, and headed down the gangplank.

Perhaps, there were two little Fire Nation children on his ship getting better. He desperately hoped so.


End file.
